Adams LeatherWorkshttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com
Makers of quality leather holsters, tutorials and other cool stuff!Fri, 23 Feb 2018 19:53:29 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.451279468Making a Pancake Holster With Thumb Strap for the 1911 Commanderhttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-pancake-holster-thumb-strap-1911-commander/
https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-pancake-holster-thumb-strap-1911-commander/#respondWed, 08 Feb 2017 17:23:46 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=5657This video demonstrates my process of making a pancake holster for the 4.25″ Commander sized 1911 with a thumb break. I start off by making the pattern, including how I dissect the pattern into individual pattern pieces. Then I demonstrate the entire assembly process, from cutting out the leather, to burnishing (admittedly, I didn’t burnish this holster to the extent I normally would because I intended this to be my personal holster), sewing, forming, then final finishing, and tweaking the pattern for a slightly tighter fit.

Please note that this video is not intended to be a teaching video, as I’ve added very little instructional text over the video. This is mainly intended to be a demonstration of my process. I intend to produce instructional videos of specific steps as time and necessity arises, as there’s already loads of great videos on YouTube explaining the various steps in more detail.

]]>https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-pancake-holster-thumb-strap-1911-commander/feed/05657Making a Pancake Holster for the Kimber Solo Carryhttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-pancake-holster-kimber-solo-carry/
https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-pancake-holster-kimber-solo-carry/#respondMon, 30 Jan 2017 15:53:10 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=5641This video demonstrates my process of making a pancake holster for the Kimber Solo Carry. I start off by making the pattern, including how I dissect the pattern into individual pattern pieces. Then I demonstrate the entire assembly process, from cutting out the leather, to burnishing, sewing, forming, then final finishing.

Please note that this video is not intended to be a teaching video, as I’ve not added any instructional text or voice-over audio. This is purely a demonstration of my process. I intend to produce instructional videos of specific steps as time and necessity arises, as there’s already loads of great videos on YouTube explaining the various steps in more detail.

]]>https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-pancake-holster-kimber-solo-carry/feed/05641Leica Leather Case by JnK-handworkshttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com/leica-case-by-jnk-handworks/
https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/leica-case-by-jnk-handworks/#respondThu, 21 Jan 2016 19:23:15 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=4892I’ve shared another Leica case video by JnK previously, here. Check out their new video on YouTube, showing a little more in-depth how they create a Leica leather case.

]]>https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/time-lapse-avenger-glock-43-pattern-creation/feed/14378Burnishing Leather Edgeshttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com/burnishing-leather-edges/
https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/burnishing-leather-edges/#respondMon, 05 Oct 2015 20:24:06 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=4377The question of “how to burnish leather edges” seems to come up on the various message boards almost daily. There’s tons of ways to do it and some are better than others, some faster, some easier, etc. This is how I burnish my leather edges and it seems to work well for me. Watch the video, or keep reading for more info…

Basically, I begin by sanding the edges flush on my drill press. I use small sanding drums I picked up at the local hardware store. Once flush, I dampen the edges (and faces too, since I hammer my stitches flat at this point), then bevel the edges. If necessary, I quickly dampen the edges again, then sand the edges (in one direction) with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a foam sanding pad (which helps the sandpaper to conform to the shape of the edge). You should be able to tell when you’ve sanded all the edges as they’ll already begin to look more smooth.

From here, I move to 400 grit Wet/Dry sandpaper and I sand in both directions (left, right, and even diagonally). Keep rotating to fresh pieces of sandpaper so the grit doesn’t get clogged up. One sheet of sandpaper should last a very long time – at least a dozen items. I think one sheet probably handled 50+ holster related items. When you’re done sanding, rinse the paper off and let it dry to use on another project.

Your edges should now be smooth enough to take dye very easily. I like to “cut in” my edges with a permanent marker. This helps get nice, clean black edges. Once the edges are cut in, I fill in the rest of the edge with a wool dauber. The marker doesn’t penetrate very deeply, or I’d use it on the entire edge. Be very careful in this step, as the dye can very easily get on your fingers and transfer to your piece. I will usually dye one half of my piece, then move onto another item while the dye dries – in assembly line fashion.

Once the dye has completely dried, I dampen the edge again and apply a 50/50 mixture of beeswax and paraffin to the edge, then heat burnish the edge with my wooden burnisher (from Pro Edge Burnishers). I don’t know off-hand what speed my drill press is running at, but it’s running fast enough to build up heat in the leather, but not so fast that it instantly burns the leather.

Buff the edge with a canvas cloth to remove the excess wax, polish the edge, and remove any excess pigment from the surface. If necessary, touch up any spots by either repeating the previous step, or with your hand burnisher. If any areas on the edge are showing un-dyed leather, I find the permanent marker works best at this point. Then buff the spot and the color should blend right in with its surrounding.

That pretty much sums it up!

]]>https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/burnishing-leather-edges/feed/04377Making a Leather Messenger Baghttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-a-leather-messenger-bag/
https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-a-leather-messenger-bag/#respondTue, 07 Apr 2015 17:42:01 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=3943Ian Atkinson has done it again! If you’re wanting to learn how to make a leather messenger bag, check out the following videos from Ian Atkinson at Leodis Leather. Be sure to check out his Etsy page too – he has downloadable patterns, and if you’re not interested in building your own, he’ll make one for you!

]]>https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/making-a-leather-messenger-bag/feed/03943Vacuum Press – See it in action!https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/vacuum-press-see-it-in-action/
https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/vacuum-press-see-it-in-action/#respondTue, 07 Apr 2015 17:26:15 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=3941A while back I posted an article listing the parts and pieces used in my vacuum press setup. I’ve successfully used this press roughly since the year 2010, and as of early 2015, it’s been used to form roughly 750 items using all of the original pieces, including the original bag!! If you’d like to read more about it, head over to this page. If you enjoy the video, please don’t forget to “Like” & “Subscribe”!

]]>https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/vacuum-press-see-it-in-action/feed/03941PayPal Payment Processing Issuehttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com/paypal-payment-processing-issue/
https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/paypal-payment-processing-issue/#respondWed, 11 Mar 2015 13:57:17 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=3843Ahh, the joys of building and maintaining your own website! This morning I received an automated email from my site saying an order was canceled. No detail, just a basic automated email. I very rarely get canceled orders (and my site doesn’t always email me when they’re canceled), but I’ve gotten a few of these in the last couple weeks. Upon further investigation, it appears my site’s shopping cart system was marking orders as canceled if the PayPal payment hadn’t processed within 60 minutes of the order being placed. I don’t know what’s causing the payment delay – perhaps those customers aren’t verified PayPal customers so there is two-step payment process?

Anyway, I made a change to my site to remove the 60 minute hold on orders. If you placed an order on my site and payment was indeed processed and deposited into my PayPal account, please, PLEASE contact me and I will (after confirmation) send your pattern to you as soon as possible and manually mark your order as complete so you’ll have access to the relevant instruction guide.

My sincere apologies for not catching this earlier.

Take care,

Eric Adams

]]>https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/paypal-payment-processing-issue/feed/03843Printed Holster Patterns and Instruction Bookshttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com/printed-holster-patterns-instruction-books/
https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/printed-holster-patterns-instruction-books/#respondThu, 15 Jan 2015 18:43:20 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=3623We are now offering some of our more popular holster patterns in a printed version, complete with a full-color printed instruction manual. If you’d like to learn more, head over to Richard Loy’s website at Pro Edge Burnishers as he’ll be handling those orders for us.

]]>https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/printed-holster-patterns-instruction-books/feed/03623Leather Walletshttps://www.adamsleatherworks.com/leather-wallets/
Mon, 05 Jan 2015 04:54:29 +0000https://www.adamsleatherworks.com/?p=3557Coming soon to ALW, we’ll soon be introducing our own line of leather wallets constructed out of premium vegetable tanned leather. They will be a stock item, meaning we’ll make them in batches, then post them to our site with limited quantities, first come, first served, while supplies last. We’re still working out the designs (our mock-ups will be available on the In-Stock page as they become available). We’ll likely be offering them in Natural, Saddle Tan, Dark Brown and Black with matching thread.
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